Cave Quid Dicis
by TealMoose
Summary: When under a lot of stress, people sometimes say things that they later regret. Due to an accidental slip of the tongue, James must prove his friendship to Logan. Will he make it in time? Major Whump! No Slash!


**Hello everyone :) This is a one-shot for my Muse, **_**2 kool to spell 'kool' right**_**, because she wrote me this really awesome two-shot called "My Last Breath", and this is my way of saying thanks! So, THANK YOU!**

**AND GUESS WHAT? IT'S SNOWING OUTSIDE! How cool is that? *pun intended* Lol. There is about... two feet so far. Pretty nifty :D**

**I hope you like the story!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Big Time Rush. *shuffles over to crying corner* Geez.**

* * *

Cave Quid Dicis

James stared at the television, his mind taking in all of the vibrant pixels and flashing lights. He yawned and stretched his arms over his head, letting them drop back down onto the back of the sofa. He tore his eyes from the screen and squeezed them shut, feeling like his retinas were burning from the prolonged exposure. He opened his watery eyes and looked around the living room. There was no sound of breaking things, no smell of dinner being made, no voices of his best friends... He sighed and turned his focus back to the chattering box in front of him. Today was just another boring day. He and the guys had spent the entire morning working on harmonies with Gustavo, with little breaks. At about two o'clock, they were given the rest of the day off, so they decided to split up and have some relaxing time alone.

Kendall had immediately called the pool, so that he could hang out with Jo for the rest of the 70 degree-perfect blue sky day. Carlos had gone off with Stephanie to the local Corndog Festival, where all you could eat or talk about was corndogs. He had offered James an invite, but he opted out. And finally Logan. He had decided that he would spend some much needed time with his girlfriend, Camille. They hadn't been with each other much lately, due to Logan's rehearsals and Camille's auditions, so today, they decided to make up for all of the missed time by going to the park and having a mega-epic-picnic-date-of-doom... Logan told James that Camille added the "of doom" to make the whole event more dramatic. Understandable, since it _was _Camille that they were talking about.

James picked up the remote and clicked the television off, not wanting to damage his eyes further. He placed both hands on the cushions and hefted himself up and off the couch. He shuffled his sock covered feet and slowly made his way over to the kitchen to grab something to satisfy his now grumbling stomach.

Unlike the rest of the guys, James had decided to just stay home. He figured that since they had the time, he could catch up with all of his missed "Glee" episodes. Or maybe he decided to relax at home because he had nobody to spend the day with... He wasn't really sure. But he couldn't shake the feeling that it was the second option.

It was a strange feeling for him. Not having someone to spend time with. Being by himself. Back in Minnesota, girls were practically lining up at his door to ask him out, and the guys were on their knees trying to find out how he did it.

Back home, he was the _star_. The one that every single boy wanted to be, and every single girl wanted to be seen with. He was _everything. _But here in Los Angeles? He was just another face. Just another wannabe- famous teen. And as if to make matters worse, he didn't even have a girlfriend! Yeah, he'd gone on a couple of dates, but he hadn't had a lasting relationship like the rest of his friends. Kendall and Jo. Carlos and Stephanie. Logan and Camille... James had _nobody._

And that's what made him jealous of each of his friends. Of course he didn't like the feeling of anger towards his best friends, but he couldn't seem to shake the feeling away. He wanted somebody to love, he wanted somebody to cuddle and speak sweetly to, he wanted someone to _care _about him...

James' thoughts came to an abrupt end when the acrid smell of burning bread filtered through his senses. He coughed and looked down to in front of him, where he happened to be making a grilled cheese sandwich... that was now in flames. James squealed and quickly ran for the pantry, opening it up and yanking the fire extinguisher off of the door. He made his way back to the smoke covered oven and began to spray the white foam.

_When did I start making a sandwich? _He pondered his memory to recall when it had happened, when his friends burst through the door. They were immediately welcomed by a wave of black smoke, and broke into coughing and gasping.

As Carlos and Kendall waved their arms around to air out the apartment, Logan ran to the window and opened them up. James felt heat rising to his face, embarrassed that he practically set the apartment to flames. As his friends set up fans around the main living area, he placed the extinguisher on the counter top, and chucked the now-charred sandwich into the trash.

_So much for getting something to eat... _He thought as his stomach growled pathetically. He coughed and turned around, only to be face to face with three frowning best friends.

"Ahaha... Hey guys! What are you doing home so early?" He laughed nervously and plastered a fake smile on his face. Kendall scoffed and raised his eyebrows. Carlos stared at the billowing smoke above their heads. Logan was angry.

He stood there with his arms folded across his chest, and a mad glare on his face. Uh oh... James flinched when Logan's tirade began, cowering every time Logan took a step closer. Kendall and Carlos simply chuckled in the background. James peered over Logan's shoulder and stuck his tongue out at the two while Logan was trying to control his breathing. The two merely snickered and tiptoed back out of the apartment. James stayed and looked at a bright red Logan. Maybe he was done...

"And WHY THE _HECK _were you making a GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH WITH _NO CHEESE OR BUTTER_? Who _does_ that?" Nope. He wasn't even close to being done.

You might be wondering why Logan was so angry over something so little...

Well, besides the fact that James had almost burnt their apartment to a crisp, they were also home alone. Mrs. Knight had decided to take Katie to Minnesota for Christmas, trusting the boys to keep the apartment in one piece over the holidays... And they weren't doing very well so far. They had had to replace most of the lamps, have a hole in the wall fixed, and replace most of the carpeting. It was tough living on their own! And the stress was getting to Logan's head. As well as James'. Every time something went wrong over the past week, James was the first one that everyone would point to.

The vase broke? He was at the pool the whole day! Who cares? It was James' fault anyways.

There's a stain on the couch? But he was in his room practicing his vocals! Who cares? It's always James' fault, one way or another.

Each time the boy's got into trouble, they usually blamed James, giving him the same excuse afterwards when they came home at eleven at night, _"But you had nothing to do tonight! I have to go on a date with so-and-so, so I CAN'T be grounded! Pleeease?"_

As he listened to Logan's long speech about how to make a grilled cheese sandwich, his jealousy started to seep back in. He tried to shake it away, but it wasn't working. All of the angry that he had been keeping pent up over the last few days was seeping out of his pores, consuming his entire being. James was tired of being alone. Tired of being the third wheel to everyone's party.

Logan was pestering him and it was getting on his last nerve. James shut his eyes as a scowl set on his lips. _Just relax James, relax..._

"This is probably why you don't have a girlfriend, James. Cause you're just too stupid to even do the _simple_ things right!"

Click. Boom. James' eyes snapped open and he felt all trust and love for his friend empty from his body. He glared and walked up to Logan, getting right in his face.

Stressed or not, James wasn't going to take any of what Logan was saying without defending himself. As James approached, he could see Logan shrinking back, his eyes growing wider as he wondered what was going on. He stopped speaking.

"Who the hell do you think you _are_, Mitchell?" He growled, watching as Logan tripped over his feet, backing up into the neon couch. Logan stuttered and looked around nervously, trying to understand what was going on. Logan looked up into the now searing hazel eyes of his best friend.

"What makes you think that you can go around telling people how smart or dumb they are? Huh? Do you think you're better than everybody else or something? Mr. Oh-I-Never-Get-Below-A-90? Well guess what? Some of US actually have _lives_ to live, and we don't waste them studying books and crap. Y'know what? I don't even get why you have a girlfriend." James seethed, smoke practically coming out of his ears. Logan cowered at the sight of his angry friend, not wanting to be in the same room anymore. With each insult that came from his friend's mouth, his esteem went lower. Tears began to swim in his eyes.

"How Camille can find it in herself to deal with you? I have no idea-" James prepared himself for the final blow, the last words that would get back at Logan for bothering him, "I have no idea how _anyone loves _a freakin know-it-all like _you._"

That did it. A sob escaped Logan's throat as he stared at James in the eyes, feeling nothing but hatred towards his so called "best friend".

James took a step back and let out a shaky breath that he hadn't realized he had been holding in. He felt relieved. Like he had lifted a weight off of his chest.

He looked down into the chocolate brown eyes that were now rimmed with red, and slowly broke contact. With one last effort to prove his point, he shoved Logan backwards, causing him to trip and fall to the ground. And Logan stayed down and drew his knees into his chest, hiding his face from the world.

"Pathetic." James snarled as he stomped away and made his way into his room, smashing his door shut behind him to make sure Logan heard.

James leaned against his door from the inside of his room, taking in gasping breaths as he thought over what just happened. Slowly, he made his way over to his bed and dropped down face-first onto his fluffy pillows.

_"I have no idea how anyone loves a freakin know-at-all like you!"_

_"Some of US actually have LIVES to live, and we don't waste them-"_

_"I don't even get why you have a girlfriend."_

The realization of what he just said came crashing back down on him, filling him to the brim with regret. _How could I say all of those things? _James pressed his palms to his eyes, wanting to black out the world, as though it would rid him of all of his problems. His hands slid from his face and began to pull at the roots of his hair, the stress finally taking it's toll on his body.

He was exhausted, angry, and nervous. And he had just taken all of his own personal issues out on Logan. Logan, who was just as stressed out as he was.

"Well, he didn't have to bring up the whole girlfriend situation, so really, it's his own fault." He mumbled to himself angrily before closing his eyes and resting his arms by his sides. His last thoughts were of Logan's distraught looking face as he sat on the ground, before drifting into slumber.

* * *

Logan sat on the ground, cringing as he heard James slam his door shut. His arm burned from where he had fallen on it.

The words from their argument still stung in his mind, repeating themselves over and over again...

His quiet cries slowed down into small sniffles, as Logan tried to compose himself. He swiped furiously at his eyes and grabbed the edge of the couch to pull himself up.

_I can't believe he actually shoved me... _Logan shook his head and frowned. Although the friends could be rough at times, they knew it was all playing. But never- _never- _did they think of laying a hand on eachother when they were angry. It was just something that they refused to do. _Until today I guess, _Logan sniffled and walked towards his shared room with Carlos, shuffling his feet and rubbing his sore arm. He opened the door and instantly went for the closet, grabbed his navy blue backpack and stuffed it with his clothing. He stood up and walked over to his desk, searching around for his wallet. _Aha! _He looked inside the drawer and found it, nestled between his Math Textbook and pencil case. He checked inside.

"$130.00... that should be good enough for now." He sighed and wiped at his eyes once more, tears threatening to show. He shoved the wallet in his backpack and threw it over his shoulder, walking back out to the main living area.

He stared at the smoky apartment once more before stepping through the open front door. Did he really want to do this? Was he really angry enough to abandon his friends and family? Logan looked around the empty house, frowning when he realized that none of his friend's were there to stop him.

He made up his mind. He would do this for James. To make him happier.

"Bye James." He whispered and stepped through the door, tears silently racing their way down his cheeks. He bit back a sob and locked the door on his way out, dropping the key next to the door mat and stepping away.

Logan Mitchell had run away.

* * *

James woke up and wiped his eyes, clearing his blurry vision. His eyes felt dry, probably from the crying that he had been doing during his sleep.

He had had a nightmare. Of Logan. It was vivid, to say the least. But it had also given him some time to think.

James got up off of his bed and combed through his hair with his fingers. He had to apologize to Logan. Like- now. He felt horrible for everything he had said, and in his dream? Something had occured to him. He was saying all of those things, because he was thinking of Logan as _himself. _All of the things that he had said were actually what he thought of himself. Without- y'know- the whole studying math books and stuff.

He scrambled out of his room, yanking his door open and running into the hallway, only to find an empty house.

"Logan? Logan are you here?" James ran through the house, checking every place where a very tiny Logan could possible fit. _Where is he? _James wondered as he freaked out, wanting to know where his best friend was.

James spent the next hour looking for Logan, searching the entire Palmwoods property. Logan was nowhere to be found.

"LOGANNNN!" James hollered, tears springing to his eyes.

* * *

The time was about 7:15pm, and it was already getting dark out.

_Maybe I shouldn't have done this... _Logan thought to himself as he walked down the empty streets of Los Angeles, hiking up his backpack that was beginning to droop on his sagging shoulders. The temperature had done nothing but drop ever since he had taken a step outside of the Palmwoods. Logan reached up with his gloved hands, and popped the collar of his pea coat, wanting to block the wind as much as possible from his neck.

He shoved his hands back into his pockets and continued to walk down the sidewalks.

He could feel the heat radiating from the large clusters of bodies in the many clubs that he passed by, the neon welcome signs being the only things that lit up the streets. The loud bass was the only thing that he could hear besides the whistling wind and the flickering street lamps.

Logan was began to regret leaving the house. He was cold, hungry, and now? Extremely scared.

Los Angeles wasn't known for being the worst place to walk around at night, but it was the nicest either. He had heard the stories of people getting kidnapped and mugged for money, but those were all myths for him, since he usually spent his time studying in his room.

_Y'see? That's what James was saying! You're too busy trying to prove yourself with books, while you SHOULD be out doing more interesting things! Nobody loves a math nerd. Just like James said. _He remembered, hot tears flowing out of his already dry eyes.

Logan kept walking and thinking of fun things to do, when he suddenly heard snickering from behind him.

"Hey kid! Watcha doin out so late? Shouldn't you be home with _mommy?_" The man burst into laughter at the joke that wasn't even that funny. A couple other people joined in too. That meant he wasn't alone. Which meant he had a team. Since Logan was a fast thinker, he immediately knew what was happening. Everything clicked together.

He was but a mere fish in the ocean of Los Angeles. Those men were sharks. Predators. And they just met their Prey.

Logan's pace had begun to speed up as his breathing quickened. He could still hear the voices behind him. _They were following him._

"Why don't you wait up? We have a question for ya, kid!" They snickered once more. Logan's eyes widened with fear as he heard their footsteps quicken. Finally, he broke into a run.

"HEY! GET 'IM" He heard the man shout, anger clearly ringing throughout his voice. Logan felt tears prick his eyes as he panted and ran as fast as he could. The wind whipped at his face and froze his fingers as he soared down the streets, not caring the weird glances that he got from the people inside of the store windows. Logan noticed an alleyway ahead, and only decided to run towards it when he heard the footsteps of his pursuers get quieter, and the sound of their angry voices silenced all together.

He ran into the alleyway and pressed himself up against the brick wall, looking around the corner to see if they were following him. He couldn't see anyone. Logan's breathing came in labored gasps as he tried to calm himself down, coughing and sputtering as he began to breath normally again.

He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, glad that he was able to outrun his pursuers. He kept his eyes closed and sunk down to the ground, curling his legs up to his chest and resting his forehead on his knees. He wanted to go back home. He wanted to go back to the warm smiles and loving embraces of all of his friends.

Logan lifted his head up and leaned it against the wall, his eyes closed as he attempted to shut the world out...

That is, until he heard someone breathing right next to his ear.

His eyes snapped open as he prepared himself to scream, but a hand clasped over his mouth, shutting his voice off from the rest of the world.

"You never gave me a chance to ask my question, kid." The scratchy voice whispered against his ear, a loud laugh erupted and tore through the silence of the alleyway.

Logan screamed against the man's sweaty and thick hand, his eyes darted between the two other men who stood in front of him. Three against one. Three sharks against one little minnow.

There was no way he could use his brain to get out of this mess.

_Maybe... This is what happens to people that nobody loves, _Logan squeezed his eyes shut and braced himself as the man lifted him up off the ground and held him in place as another man searched his backpack for his wallet, _maybe I deserve this..._

Just as he was about to open his eyes, Logan felt a punch land square to his jaw. His head snapped to the side, and he could taste blood in his mouth.

"This is what you get for running away," he got a fist to his temple. His vision faded and came back, blurry, but there all the same.

"And _this,_" the stench of the man's hot breath wafted onto Logan's face, making him gag, "is for just looking so _damn pathetic!" _Logan felt a couple of punches to his face and gut before he thrown to the building, the rough brick wall scratching up his back as he slid down to the ground.

Logan could've sworn that before his world faded black, and all of the men started running away, he heard someone calling his name.

"LOGANNN! Where are you!"

* * *

"LOGANNN! Where are you!" James yelled, cupping his hand around his mouth to project his volume. He had been searching all of the L.A. Streets when he finally came across one that was filled with bright lights and chattering people.

He figured that Logan _must _be there, since he had checked pretty much everywhere else. As much as he knew Logan was angry, he also knew that Logan wouldn't really leave LA. Or so he'd hoped. James had been walking down the sidewalk, looking inside of the club windows, when he had heard a scream coming from somewhere down the street.

A scream that he recognized. A scream that he always heard whenever Carlos decided to put some bug that he found inside of his friend's drink to see his reaction...

Though it wasn't really loud and had a slight muffled tone to it, he still knew.

_Logan._

James took off into a run in the direction of the noise, watching as he saw three men running out of an alleyway with a backpack in their possession. James ran even faster. He ran as though his life depended on it. As though Logan's life depended on it.

The cold air stung as James' face as he came to a halt at the end of the alleyway, leaning his head in and taking in the horrible sight that was before him.

Logan was laying on the ground, his back against the brick wall. His face had large purple marks beginning to form on it, and you could see blood leaking from the corner of his mouth. If it weren't for the small puff of white smoke caused by the heat of his breath, James would've thought that Logan was dead. He quickly shuffled over to his friend and dropped down to his knees, not caring if he tore up the clothes that Gustavo had paid to get them.

James' breathing had quickened as he leaned in, pressing his fingers to Logan's cold face.

"Logan?" He mumbled, trying to rouse him. "Logan, buddy, please wake up." Tears had begun to leak from his eyes.

"I'm sorry about what I said Logan, just please Logie, please wake up!"

He patted Logan's face and watched as the pale boy's eyes fluttered open, revealing a brown eye turned black. Logan winced and sucked in a breath, his eyes pivoting around the alleyway, James could tell that he was afraid.

"James?" A small voice came from the boy next to him, making James jump.

"Yeah, Logie, I'm here. I'm here and I'm never gonna leave your side again. I promise. I take back everything that I said earlier, I didn't mean any of it. I was just upset and jealous and... I'm so sorry, Logan." James held Logan's hand tight, holding it between his own to give him some extra warmth.

Logan sighed. "I know James. I know... You love me again though, right?" He questioned, his eyes starting to droop, exhaustion making itself more obvious. Logan was battling with unconsciousness, and right now, it was winning.

James let out a cry. "I never stopped."

* * *

**The end :D Btw, Cave Quid Dicis means Watch What You Say in Latin. And NO, this was not a Jagan story, it was just some brotherly love! I hope this story made sense... Lol. Hopefully it did. Merry Late Christmas Everyone! And I hope you liked it Kools :D Consider it your late Christmas present. **

**Now... I'm gonna go frolic in the snow and talk to some snowmen, and there's nothing you can do about it! :D I think I'll made a snowman Big Time Rush... Nvm. I just thought that over, and realized that that would take WAY too much effort. Have a wonderful day, my beautiful readers!**

**Whatever the aliens say,**

**TealMoose**


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